NewsNet
 | |
| Type | Terrestrial television network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Availability | Nationwide, via terrestrial TV and OTT streaming (estimated coverage [as of May 1, 2019], 24.28%)[1] and Worldwide |
| Founded | February 28, 2018 |
| Slogan | More news. More often. |
| Headquarters | Cadillac, Michigan |
| Parent | NewsNet LLC |
Key people |
|
Launch date | January 1, 2019 |
Picture format | 720p (HDTV, widescreen) |
| Affiliates | See section |
Official website | yournewsnet |
NewsNet is an American news-oriented free-to-air television network that is owned by NewsNet LLC. The network is structured to broadcast a tightly-formatted 30-minute newswheel 24 hours a day (with a 90-minute breakaway on weekend mornings), incorporating freshly-updated information that covers various areas of interest (such as national news, sports, entertainment, weather and business). Breaking news stories are updated constantly as they develop and new information becomes available.
In addition to being carried on digital subchannels of affiliated television stations, NewsNet also distributes its programming through a livestream that is available on its website (yournewsnet.com), as well as mobile apps in areas where it does not have a terrestrial TV affiliate. NewsNet's operations are based out of the studios of WMNN-LD on West 13th Street and 3rd Avenue in Cadillac, Michigan.
Contents
- 1 Background and history
- 2 Programming
- 3 On-air staff
- 4 Affiliates
- 4.1 Current affiliates
- 4.1.1 Alabama
- 4.1.2 California
- 4.1.3 Colorado
- 4.1.4 Florida
- 4.1.5 Georgia
- 4.1.6 Illinois
- 4.1.7 Kansas
- 4.1.8 Kentucky
- 4.1.9 Louisiana
- 4.1.10 Michigan
- 4.1.11 Mississippi
- 4.1.12 Missouri
- 4.1.13 North Carolina
- 4.1.14 New Jersey
- 4.1.15 New York
- 4.1.16 Ohio
- 4.1.17 Oregon
- 4.1.18 Pennsylvania
- 4.1.19 Tennessee
- 4.1.20 Texas
- 4.1.21 Utah
- 4.1 Current affiliates
- 5 References
- 6 External links
Background and history[edit]
On September 28, 2017, Eric Wotila – who founded low-powered all-news station WMNN-LD in Cadillac, Michigan, and oversaw the studio design and construction for News Channel Nebraska, a Norfolk, Nebraska-based quasi-state network of five low-powered stations that also maintained an all-news programming format – started a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to fund the launch of a 24-hour national news channel – under the working title, the Local News Network (LNN) – intended for broadcast, online and mobile distribution.[2][3][4][5]
Citing favorable opinions from viewers about the "straight-to-the-facts, no-nonsense and commentary-free" coverage provided by WMNN-LD, the Local News Network proposed to offer a news wheel format (similar in structure to the 1982–2005 format of HLN, and the formats of defunct all-news networks such as All News Channel and Satellite News Channel) that would eschew the often-politically focused panel discussion programs that have populated the afternoon, nighttime and weekend schedules of cable news channels (particularly CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel) since the early 2000s. The project called for LNN to be based out of WMNN's Cadillac studio facility, with the hope of eventually opening bureaus elsewhere around the United States. The project failed to reach its funding goal of $100,000 needed to develop LNN – which would have been used to pay for equipment and staffing necessary to handle the national broadcasts – by the closure of the 50-day campaign on November 17, 2017, raising only $8,012 from 78 public backers. Wotilla subsequently sought to obtain backing from investors to fund the venture.[2][3][4][5]
On March 15, 2018, Wotilla and other partners involved in the Local News Network project announced the launch of NewsNet, which would maintain the concept originally developed prior to the commencement of the Kickstarter campaign.[6][7][8]
NewsNet was officially launched on January 1, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, with the Evening Edition serving as the network's inaugural program. On May 8, 2019, ground was broken on new studios. The facility will consist of 3 studios, each with their own control rooms and a new, state-of-the-art master control room overseeing the operations of NewsNet, WMNN-LD and WXII-LP.[9]
Programming[edit]
The channel's programming is structured around a rolling news wheel format, providing up-to-date information on the top national and international stories in just 30 minutes. Each half-hour of the wheel format begins with a two-minute-long look at the leading headlines of the moment (with updated details provided when breaking news develops), followed by an eight-minute selection of additional headlines at 02 and 32 minutes past the hour. The remainder of the block features a national weather forecast summary (at 15 and 43 minutes past the hour), sports scores and headlines (at 20 and 48 minutes past the hour), "Health News," a segment focusing on the latest health headlines (at 24 minutes past the hour) and "Around America," a segment focusing on stories centering around unique attractions and people around the United States (at 54 minutes past the hour).[10]
To comply with programming guidelines imposed by the Children's Television Act, NewsNet also carries a 90-minute block of educational children's programming on Saturday and Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Current programs[edit]
- Rolling news blocks
- NewsNet Evening Edition (January 1, 2019–present)
- NewsNet Midday Edition (January 2, 2019–present)
- NewsNet Morning Edition (January 2, 2019–present)
- NewsNet Nightside Edition (January 2, 2019–present)
- E/I programming
- America's Heartland (January 6, 2019–present)
- Animal Rescue (January 5, 2019–present)
- Biz Kid$ (January 6, 2019–present)
- Dog Tales (January 5, 2019–present)
- Missing (January 5, 2019–present)
- Think Big (January 6, 2019–present)
On-air staff[edit]
- Remington Hernandez – news anchor
- Bejoy Joseph – sports anchor
- Morris Langworthy – meteorologist
- Vic McCarty – news anchor; also Around America segment reporter
- Jessica Mojonnier – news anchor; also reporter
- Dylan Rodenbaugh – weather forecaster
- Derek Tate – sports anchor
Affiliates[edit]
As of May 2019[update], NewsNet has current and pending affiliation agreements with 43 television stations in 39 television markets encompassing 21 states, covering 26.26% of the United States.[1]
In addition to allowing affiliates to sell local advertising (offering four minutes of local commercial time per hour to prospective stations), NewsNet provides the option for its broadcast affiliates to pre-empt the "Health News" and "Around America" segments at the end of each half-hour to allow to carry a five-minute-long local headline "capsule," providing news and weather information focusing on the local viewing area. NewsNet also provides an optional turnkey local news production service for stations that do not maintain their own local news departments to produce local news capsule segments or full-length newscasts.[10][11][6][7][8]
Current affiliates[edit]
| City of license/market | Station | Virtual channel[1] |
Physical channel |
Primary affiliation (on main channel) |
Owner (Management Company) |
Date of affiliation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama[edit] | |||||||
| Cusseta (Columbus, Georgia) | WQMK-LD | 18.3 | 18 | Retro Television Network | Ben Jordan Communications Corporation | February 19, 2019 | Launched on new subchannel |
| Dothan | WJJN-LD | 49.3 | 49 | Religious | Wilson Broadcasting Company, Inc. | TBA | Launches on new subchannel |
| Florence (Huntsville–Decatur) | WXFL-LD | 10.1 | 10 | Benny Carle | January 1, 2019 | Replaced Youtoo America | |
California[edit] | |||||||
| Barstow (Los Angeles) | K36JH-D | 36.3 | 36 | NASA TV | Brent Gaddis | February 14, 2019 | Launched on new subchannel |
| Cathedral City (Palm Springs) | KAKZ-LD | 4.4 | 4 | Free Speech TV | Tara Broadcasting LLC | January 1, 2019 | Replaced QVC |
| Los Angeles | KFLA-LD | 8.1 | 8 | KFLA Television (Roy William Mayhugh) | April 8, 2019 | Replaced Corner Store TV, which moved to 8.3 | |
| Reedley (Fresno–Visalia) | KVBC-LP | 13.9 | 26 | MeTV | Cocola Broadcasting (operated by Ventura Broadcasting Company) |
January 7, 2019 | Replaced My Life TV |
| Ridgecrest (Bakersfield) | KZGN-LD | 21.2 | 42 | Heartland | Wiknich Broadcasting Corporation | May 20, 2019 | Replaced Classic Shows |
| Santa Cruz (San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose) | KAAP-LD | 24.7 | 11 | Diya TV | Major Market Broadcasting | January 1, 2019 | Launched on new subchannel |
Colorado[edit] | |||||||
| Sterling (Denver) | KCDO-TV | 3.1 | 23 | Independent | Newsweb Corporation | February 25, 2019 | Part-time basis only |
Florida[edit] | |||||||
| Orlando | WSWF-LD | 10.5 | 45 | Rev'n | Major Market Broadcasting | January 22, 2019 | Replaced Lifehacks DRTV |
| St. Augustine (Jacksonville) | WQXT-CD | 22.7 | 28 | Retro Television Network | A1A TV, Inc. | January 10, 2019 | Replaced The Walk TV |
| Vero Beach (West Palm Beach–Boca Raton–Fort Pierce) | WWCI-CD | 10.1 | 10 | HC2 Holdings | May 20, 2019 | ||
Georgia[edit] | |||||||
| Baxley (Savannah) | WSCG-TV | TBA | 35 | Heroes & Icons | Winemiller Television, LLC | TBA | |
| Cumming (Atlanta) | WLVO-LD | 21.6 | 21 | Diya TV | United Media Network, LLC | March 15, 2019 | Launched on new subchannel |
| Dalton (Chattanooga, Tennessee) | WDNN-CD | 49.3 | 49 | Independent | North Georgia Television | January 1, 2019 | Replaced Retro Television Network |
| Valdosta (Albany) | WSWG | 44.5 | 31 | CBS | Marquee Broadcasting | TBA | Launches on new subchannel |
Illinois[edit] | |||||||
| Arlington Heights (Chicago) | WRJK-LP | 22.6 | 24 | Diya TV | Major Market Broadcasting | January 1, 2019 | Replaced Charge! |
Kansas[edit] | |||||||
| Kansas City | KCKS-LD | 25.2 | 25 | Buzzr | Heartland Broadcasting, LLC | January 1, 2019 | Replaced Justice Network |
| Sublette (Wichita–Hutchinson) | KDGL-LD | 23.5 | 23 | Cozi TV | High Plains Broadcasting, LLC | January 1, 2019 | Replaced Retro Television Network |
| Topeka | WROB-LD | 25.2 | 26 | Buzzr | Heartland Broadcasting, LLC | January 1, 2019 | Replaced Justice Network |
| Wichita | KCTU-LD | 5.2 | 23 | This TV (primary)/ AMGTV (secondary) |
River City Broadcasters, Inc. | January 1, 2019 | Replaced Estrella TV |
Kentucky[edit] | |||||||
| Louisville | W50CI-D | 8.6 | 50 | Buzzr | Word Broadcasting Network, Inc. (operated by South Central Communications) |
January 1, 2019 | Launched on new subchannel |
Louisiana[edit] | |||||||
| Baton Rouge | WLFT-CD | 30.3 | 30 | MeTV | Touch Family Broadcasting | January 1, 2019 | Replaced HSN |
Michigan[edit] | |||||||
| Detroit | WHNE-LD | 14.9 | 20 | Light TV | Tait Broadcasting LLC | January 1, 2019 | |
Mississippi[edit] | |||||||
| Holly Springs (Memphis, Tennessee) | WBII-CD | 20.4 | 20 | Sonlife Broadcasting Network | Mid-South Broadcasting | January 11, 2019 | Replaced Heartland |
Missouri[edit] | |||||||
| Joplin | KJPX-LP | 35.1 | 35 | Gary and Deborah Kenny | February 21, 2019 | Replaced Retro Television Network | |
North Carolina[edit] | |||||||
| Lumberton (Myrtle Beach–Florence, South Carolina) | WTNG-CD | 33.11 | 14 | The Family Channel | Mercy's Bridge Media, LLC | May 20, 2019 | Replaced HSN |
| Manteo (Norfolk–Portsmouth–Newport News–Virginia Beach, Virginia) | W22EN-D | 22.5 | 22 | Classic Shows | Lawrence F. Loesch | January 31, 2019 | Launched on new subchannel |
| Tarboro (Raleigh–Durham–Fayetteville) | WNCR-LD | 41.2 | 21 | Youtoo America | WNCR Media Group, Inc. | April 28, 2019 | |
New Jersey[edit] | |||||||
| Middletown Township (New York, New York) | WJLP | 33.6 | 3 | MeTV | PMCM TV | May 20, 2019 | Launched on new subchannel |
New York[edit] | |||||||
| Buffalo | WBXZ-LP | 56.11 | 17 | Cozi TV | Steven D. Ritchie | January 1, 2019 | Launched on new subchannel |
| Cobleskill (Albany–Schenectady–Troy) | WYBN-LD | 14.8 | 14 | Buzzr | Cable Ad Net New York | January 9, 2019 | Replaced The Action Channel |
| New York City | WNWT-LD | 51.1 | 50 | PMCM TV | May 1, 2019 | Replaced BuenaVision | |
| Utica | WVVC-LD | 40.6 | 33 | Antenna TV | Northeast Gospel Broadcasting, Inc. | February 1, 2019 | Launched on new subchannel |
Ohio[edit] | |||||||
| Columbus | WCSN-LD | 32.8 | 26 | Movies! | Columbus TV, LLC | March 7, 2019 | Replaced Youtoo America |
Oregon[edit] | |||||||
| Cottage Grove (Eugene) | K18LR-D | 36.1 | 18 | South Lane Television, Inc. | TBA | ||
Pennsylvania[edit] | |||||||
| State College (Johnstown–Altoona) | WHVL-LP | 29.3 | 27 | MyNetworkTV | Channel Communications | TBA | Launches on new subchannel |
Tennessee[edit] | |||||||
| Nashville | WJDE-LD | 31.4 | 31 | Heroes & Icons | Word Broadcasting Network | January 1, 2019 | Replaced HSN |
Texas[edit] | |||||||
| Beaumont | KUMY-LD | 22.1 | 22 | SETX Public Television Corporation | May 20, 2019 | Replaced Mexicanal | |
| Houston | KBPX-LD | 46.12 | 46 | NuestraVisión | Word Broadcasting Network | January 1, 2019 | Launched on new subchannel |
Utah[edit] | |||||||
| Logan (Salt Lake City) | KUTA-LD | 8.3 | 8 | Youtoo America | Airwaves, Inc. | March 4, 2019 | Replaced local programming |
| Ogden (Salt Lake City) | KQTI-LD | 8.2 | 31 | Youtoo America | Airwaves, Inc. | March 4, 2019 | Replaced Biz TV |
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "Stations for Network – NewsNet". RabbitEars. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ a b "LNN - A News Channel without Pundits, Panels or Shout Shows". Kickstarter. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
- ^ a b "Entrepreneur turns to Kickstarter to launch no-nonsense news channel". TVNewsInsider. September 29, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
- ^ a b Phil Kurz (October 6, 2017). "Broadcast Entrepreneur Turns To Crowdfunding For New Effort". TVTechnology. Future plc. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
- ^ a b "MI News 26 looks to launch Northern Michigan based national news station". Boyne City Gazette. Paine Press. September 29, 2017. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
- ^ a b Phil Kurz (March 15, 2018). "New 24/7 News Channel To Make National Launch By Year-End". TVTechnology. Future plc. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
- ^ a b Adam Jacobson (March 22, 2018). "Now Available For Local TV: A 24/7 News Channel". Radio-Television Business Report. Streamline-RBR, Inc. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
- ^ a b "Headline-Driven NewsNet Readies For Launch". Radio-Television Business Report. Streamline-RBR, Inc. October 5, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
- ^ Staff, B&C. "NewsNet Breaks Ground on New Studios, Expanding Production Capabilities of America's Newest 24/7 News Channel". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved 2019-05-11.
- ^ a b Eric Wotila (October 2, 2018). "Learn More About Our Format". NewsNet. NewsNet, LLC. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
- ^ "New 24/7 NewsNet Designed For TV Stations". TVNewsCheck. NewsCheck Media. March 20, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
